In August we announced the World Of Signage Photo Contest, in which we encouraged designers, artists and photographers to go out with their cameras, shoot attractive typography and public signage and send us the results. The more obvious subjects we received were street signs, building facades, highway markers and road signs, as well as wayfinding graphics (i.e. directional signage) in public venues, subway signs, hotel and office signs and signs in shops, too.

The winner of the digital SLR camera, the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS (EOS 1000D) is Julian Salaun for his photo “Suicide Signage”, taken in the underground tube in Paris. That’s a sign you wouldn’t normally notice; the unconventional perspective is attention-grabbing and makes the photo stand out with its almost ironic placement. Very unique, very original shot. Congratulations to you! (You should have been contacted by now.)

2,500+ submissions, 51 categories

We received almost everything one could think of. The response was overwhelming and truly smashing: overall, we received over 2,500 photos, some of which, though, didn’t pass our automated processing or didn’t fit our guidelines.

Overall, almost 1,500 photos are presented in 51 galleries below. With so many emails from so many people across the world, sorting the submissions manually was a daunting task. But that’s what we had to do. It took a lot of time, even with every member of our team spending a significant amount of time reviewing and grouping the photos. Interestingly, the most popular kinds of photos were road and street signs and warning and danger signs, followed by train and airport signs, venue signs and, of course, WC (restroom) signs. We noticed that some photographers shot the same places at different times — what curious coincidences those were!

Showcase

Now, finally, the results are online. Initially, we planned to add personal comments to each one, but that would have taken months. Out of sympathy for our media servers, we have split the submissions across several pages, all linked below. Please check out the pages and comment on the photos you like best. We also hope we have achieved the goal of the contest: to provide our readers with useful and creative ideas on how designers worldwide combine type, visual design and pictograms in public signage.

Showcase Of Most Interesting Submissions

Some of the most interesting, creative and original submissions are presented below. Please note: each photo comes with a license, noted in the description of the photo. Before using the images for personal or commercial projects, make sure the license allows you to do so. Also, you can click on the photos for larger versions.

Station Shop

Station Shop [ large preview ]
“Please use other door - Station Shop.” Created by John Kilpatrick from United Kingdom.

Subway Scratch Off

Subway Scratch Off [ large preview ]
“Subway sign for center city Philly @ Market East Station.” Created by Carissa Katz from USA.

Beware of Falling Coconuts

Beware of Falling Coconuts [ large preview ]
“Heard about ‘Beware of dogs but coconuts?’.” Created by Kisan Bhat from India.

From here you can go anywhere

From here you can go anywhere [ large preview ]
“Should i see Skadarlija, Skopje, Moscow, maybe Moon? I think I’ll go for a drink at “Sesir Moj 2”.” License: CC BY-NC-ND. Created by Marko Rosic from Serbia.

Don’t even think of parking here

Don’t even think of parking here [ large preview ]
“The picture was taken in NYC in 2009.” Designed by Stefan Vogel from Germany.

Chinatown San Fran

Chinatown San Fran [ large preview ]
“The main street that runs through Chinatown in San Francisco is Grant Street. Here the local color can be seen in the background of the sign.” Created by Jen Mabe from USA.

Name temple signage

Train

Skövde Central Station Sign

Skövde Central Station Sign [ large preview ]
“A really beautiful, accessible and easy to understand sign on a Central Station in Skövde. The sign illustrates bus station, taxi and train platforms. Note that everything is also written in Braille code.” Designed by Igor Jovic from Sweden.

FLine Up

Line Up [ large preview ]
“Lining up at Incheon International Airport in South Korea.” Licensed: Copyright. Designed by Aurus Sy from Philippines.

Number 2 Is Open

Number 2 Is Open [ large preview ]
“These are personal FedEx Kinkos Booths open to the public. Notice how the signs are slightly angled so they attract attention from down the hall instead of being flat on the surface of the doors… and aren’t the colors just wonderful.” Licensed: All Rights Reserved. Designed by Stephanie King from USA.

Wyatt’s Confusion

Architect’s Gateway

Architect’s Gateway [ large preview ]
“3 doors from the side of a building with signage of what an Architect does.” Licensed: Royalty Free (RF) images. Designed by Ellson Yap from Singapore.

Beware, polar bears !

Beware, polar bears ! [ large preview ]
“Photo taken near Longyearbyen in Svalbard (or Spitzbergen), Norway, in October 2009. This photo shows the non attention paid to the sign, as the lady runs towards the land, where the bears are, as the sign says to beware of polar bears “In the entire Svalbard”.” Created by Brian MathÈ from France.

Vacancy

1833 Salamanca

1833 Salamanca [ large preview ]
“Metal shelled sign filled with original convict mined sandstone blocks.” Licensed: Copyright Steven Clark with permission granted to Smashing Magazine to use in relation to this competition. Designed by Steven Clark from Australia.

Mixed Signals

Welcome to Salt Lake City

Welcome to Salt Lake City [ large preview ]
“A sign that pretty much sums of living in the city of salt.” Created by Shauna Ehninger from USA.

Up the 101

Up the 101 [ large preview ]
“This photo was taken at the famous Taipei 101 building. What amazed me is that each floor you went they would write the height of the building. Clear fonts with an inviting graphics.” Photo taken by Michelle Pei Ting Huang from Brazil.

Magic numbers

Magic numbers [ large preview ]
“House numbers in brass in the evening.” Photo taken by Jaina from UK.

The Room Number

The Room Number [ large preview ]
“A Picture of a hostel room in thailand.” License: Creative Common Attribution License. Created by Robert Hoppe from Germany.

Zetland House Type

Zetland House Type [ large preview ]
“My work is in this building with really great giant type for the floor markings.” Photo taken by Rachel Lipsitz from UK.

Tehran metro exit

Handrail signage for blind person

Handrail signage for blind person [ large preview ]
“Staircases’ handrails provide information label for blind people in one of the Nagoya’s (Japan) underground. As easy to notice there are braille characters on the left side of the handrail.” Licensed: Photo was taken by myself. Designed by Piotr Domowicz from Poland.

Vienna Subway Map

Vienna Subway Map [ large preview ]
“Vienna Subway Map. I really love the use of Helvetica” Created by Alex Buga from Romania.

Waiting at Gate #3

Waiting at Gate #3 [ large preview ]
“Photo was taken while waiting for a flight connection to Brazil in Carrasco International Airport, Montevideo, Uruguay.” Licensed: Attribution-ShareAlike License. Designed by Fernando Maclen from Argentina.

Signage dock E zurich 1

Pit Stop

Pit Stop [ large preview ]
“Photo was taken while waiting for a flight connection to Brazil in Carrasco International Airport, Montevideo, Uruguay.” Licensed: Attribution-ShareAlike License. Designed by Fernando Maclen from Argentina.

Airport Security Check

Bike sign

Three Signs In A Row

Three Signs In A Row [ large preview ]
“I liked the three layers of the signs. One on the glas window, one behind on the wall, and the reflection of one sign on the oppsite side of the glas window..” Designed by Andris Linz from Switzerland.

Tehran metro exit

Handrail signage for blind person

Handrail signage for blind person [ large preview ]
“Staircases’ handrails provide information label for blind people in one of the Nagoya’s (Japan) underground. As easy to notice there are braille characters on the left side of the handrail.” Licensed: Photo was taken by myself. Designed by Piotr Domowicz from Poland.

Vienna Subway Map

Vienna Subway Map [ large preview ]
“Vienna Subway Map. I really love the use of Helvetica” Created by Alex Buga from Romania.

Waiting at Gate #3

Waiting at Gate #3 [ large preview ]
“Photo was taken while waiting for a flight connection to Brazil in Carrasco International Airport, Montevideo, Uruguay.” Licensed: Attribution-ShareAlike License. Designed by Fernando Maclen from Argentina.

Signage dock E zurich 1

Pit Stop

Pit Stop [ large preview ]
“Photo was taken while waiting for a flight connection to Brazil in Carrasco International Airport, Montevideo, Uruguay.” Licensed: Attribution-ShareAlike License. Designed by Fernando Maclen from Argentina.

Airport Security Check

Bike sign

Three Signs In A Row

Three Signs In A Row [ large preview ]
“I liked the three layers of the signs. One on the glas window, one behind on the wall, and the reflection of one sign on the oppsite side of the glas window..” Designed by Andris Linz from Switzerland.

Tandem signage

Ballyvaughan

Ballyvaughan [ large preview ]
“Ballyvaughan, Ireland.” Created by Mary Lemcke from USA.

Ecuador Sign, Ecuador

Ecuador Sign, Ecuador [ large preview ]
“This photo shows both the coordinates of the location, as well as the actual line passing below the sign to mark the equator, or “The Middle of the World” as they call it in Ecuador.” Photo taken by Tessa K. Marmion from USA.

Alborzmountain

Thanks!

Thanks to all participants for taking the time to prepare and submit their photos for this contest and for contributing to the unique and diverse gallery presented here. We truly appreciate and respect your effort and time, folks. And please stay tuned for our next contest! Let us know what kind of contest you would like it to be; we look forward to your comments in this post!